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Diesel Ram 1500

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I honestly think Ford and GM are missing a grand opportunity! We've been talking about how much we wish we had a lighter duty diesel truck around home. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the 250, but there are times that I wish I had a lighter duty truck mainly because the darn thing is so big and drinks fuel more than the lighter duty trucks would!

I don't think it's about ford/chevy missing the boat. from what I understand, smaller 1/2ton diesels have not been around due to the impact on the gov't cafe numbers. 3/4ton don't play into average economy numbers so they have been "exempt" so to speak. would be interesting to see how this vehicle is going to play into dodge's overall fuel picture.

I have been watching and reading plenty in the Diesel market and even right now it says its in testing.
Id love to see a Diesel 1/2 ton, i think it would help to bring diesel fuel down as it would become more mainstream.

They say they truck will be able to pull at least 10K and wiht 240 Hp 420 torque it just might do ok.

The downside i see is that with those power numbers, it would be a dog still pulling up hills much the same as your normal gas truck. I dont think its enough power to pull a hill with a big trailer and not lose momentum like a gas truck does. IDK maybe it will do better with a 6speed trans, but most of the time the extra gears they add to the trans are high end highway gears.

Driving the TDI my main complaint is at highway speeds since it lacks larger HP numbers it has no guts to pass over 60 mph. Below 45 its a beast and spins the tires at will.

I think the Eco Boost will stay on top in this battle for now

I would how ever love to see a 1/2 ton diesel live up to Diesels reputation and take the lead in the 1/2 ton truck market.

I have been watching and reading plenty in the Diesel market and even right now it says its in testing.
Id love to see a Diesel 1/2 ton, i think it would help to bring diesel fuel down as it would become more mainstream.

They say they truck will be able to pull at least 10K and wiht 240 Hp 420 torque it just might do ok.

The downside i see is that with those power numbers, it would be a dog still pulling up hills much the same as your normal gas truck. I dont think its enough power to pull a hill with a big trailer and not lose momentum like a gas truck does. IDK maybe it will do better with a 6speed trans, but most of the time the extra gears they add to the trans are high end highway gears.

Driving the TDI my main complaint is at highway speeds since it lacks larger HP numbers it has no guts to pass over 60 mph. Below 45 its a beast and spins the tires at will.

I think the Eco Boost will stay on top in this battle for now

I would how ever love to see a 1/2 ton diesel live up to Diesels reputation and take the lead in the 1/2 ton truck market.

if you start giving them too much power then they will begin to eat into manufacturers 3/4 and 1 ton market and they dont want to do that. even at 420 lb/ft of torque its putting out about what the old 7.3 liter power strokes did, this whole 800 ft/lb of toque 3/4 truck is a relatively new thing going on. also i believe the diesel would get better fuel mileage than the ecoboost maybe by 2 or 3 mpg due to the higher energy contained in diesel.

a modest increase in power would do it good but you really dont want to go crazy with it. maybe 300 hp and 450 or 460 tq

if you start giving them too much power then they will begin to eat into manufacturers 3/4 and 1 ton market and they dont want to do that. even at 420 lb/ft of torque its putting out about what the old 7.3 liter power strokes did, this whole 800 ft/lb of toque 3/4 truck is a relatively new thing going on. also i believe the diesel would get better fuel mileage than the ecoboost maybe by 2 or 3 mpg due to the higher energy contained in diesel.

a modest increase in power would do it good but you really dont want to go crazy with it. maybe 300 hp and 450 or 460 tq

Yes absolutly you have to be carefull with the power on it because you dont want to eat into the 3/4 market.

Still though with such a low HP number, this is the power you need to sustane Speed it will be weaker at towing highway speeds. This is strickly my thinking though based on driving a 140 HP diesel car weighting only 3K lbs.

A diesel version of the Ram 1500 in crew cab shortbed 4x4 edition has to be weighing in at 6-7K lbs.

Yes the milage not towing is said to be supiror to the compitition, but towing? I doubt it does better then 10-12 due to its lack of HP, so the truck will stay in 4th gear to keep the revs up in the 2K range which im sure is where its high end torque band is.

Even my F350 6.4 Twin Turbo engine stock only gets 10mpg towing and 13 in the city. I had to upgrade the Intake, Exhaust and Computer before i got my 17city and 12-15 towing. I think stock i was at 350hp and 570 torque, now its roughly 600hp and 900 torque.

I agree with your point on the 7.3 powerstroke engines, but you are also talking about an engine not even 1/2 the size of a 7.3

To put it into perpective, New Cummings Semi engine, 14.9L only has 450HP but 1800 torque.
Doesnt sound to impressive till you think about it doing that at 1K RPM
Diesel not only get thier impressive power from its Torque number, that number directly relates to its Displacement size.
Theres an old saying, Theres no Replacement for Displacement.

This is why im skepticle and hesitent to get too excited about a 1/2 ton diesel till i see the rest of the numbers, such as what RPM does it make this 400 torque and what RPM does it make the HP.

The idea of a diesel peaks my interest, but I would have to see some number as well and do some math. First off in my area currently, diesel fuel is roughly .40 more per gallon then regular 87 gasoline. And then not knowing the premium price they will charge for the engine, along with some rough maintance cost. Combine these factors together, will it make financial sense? The fuel milage will have to be there for it gain any ground. Most people that have a 1/2 ton that I see, maybe have truck uses 20% of the time at most. Kids, groceries, and work commutes don't always nessessitate a 1/2 ton truck. Most uses are probably like towing boats, or weekend runs to the local Menards or Home Depot so the gas may be a better fit.

to a certain degree. my old evo9 had a 2liter 4cyl. at the end, it was cranking 362hp/361tq at the wheels. this was with a tune and some bolton parts. was easily a 450hp car at the flywheel after 3 diffs and drivetrain loss. with larger turbos, that engine is capable of 600hp/550tq and still bulletproof.

I, personally think that the whole v6 notion is interesting. look at any of the large semis and they are all running an inline engine. I believe that some of the early diesel 3/4 were also inlines. perhaps domestics should be looking at a 4-5liter inline turbodiesel for these 1/2ton trucks. I also think that if dodge talks about 30mpg and 240/440, imagine what will happen when the tuning community gets ahold of it. perhaps it'll spec out at a true 35pmg chipped.